Richard Powers

Pulitzer-palkitun Richard Powersin Alkumeri valittiin Yhdysvalloissa vuoden 2024 parhaiden kirjojen joukkoon, ja se oli moninkertainen palkintoehdokas sekä myyntimenestys.Aviopari Rafi ja Ina kasvattavat adoptiolapsiaan pienessä saariyhteisössä. 92-vuotias pioneerisukeltaja Evelyne kokoaa kirjaa, joka "pysäyttää ihmiskunnan edistyksen”. Kuuluisan teknologianero Toddin uraauurtavat tekoälykokeilut hätkähdyttävät kansainvälisesti. Nelikon kohtalot kietoutuvat yhteen Makatean pienellä korallisaarella Ranskan Polynesiassa.Saaren fosfaattiesiintymät auttoivat aikoinaan ruokkimaan maailmaa, mutta historian arvet näkyvät edelleen. Riittääkö mikään suojelemaan valtameriä ihmisen ahneudelta? Syvästi vaikuttava romaani kertoo merien mahdista ja kauneudesta, ihmisen jättämistä peruuttamattomista jäljistä sekä teknologian vääjäämättömältä vaikuttavasta voittokulusta.

Suurromaani puista ja ihmisistä Tietokoneista innostuneen pojan kohtalon muuttaa vanha tammi. Kasveja rakastava tutkijanainen tekee mullistavan havainnon. Pariskunta istuttaa takapihalleen uuden puuntaimen aina hääpäivänään. Viisi ystävystä yrittää keinoja kaihtamatta pelastaa Yhdysvaltojen luoteisosien viimeiset koskemattomat metsät 1990-luvun alussa. Yhdeksän toisiinsa nivoutuvaa tarinaa, joista jokaisella on juuret, runko ja latvus. Aikamme arvostetuimpiin amerikkalaiskirjailijoihin kuuluvan Richard Powersin Pulitzer-palkittu Ikipuut on polttavan ajankohtainen romaani elämäntapamme hinnasta ja paikastamme maailmassa. Se on myös henkeäsalpaavan upea ja koskettava ylistyslaulu luonnon ihmeille: sen sivuilla tuoksuvat neulaset ja humisevat sumusta kosteat rannikkometsät. Se saattaa muuttaa elämäsi.

Mexico has long been a wellspring of inspiration for designers, with its rich architectural heritage shaping both national and international discourse. Visionary architects such as Agustin Hernandez Navarro, Luis Barragan, Ricardo Legorreta, and Javier Senosiain have left an indelible mark on modern architecture, their groundbreaking work continuing to influence contemporary design. In this lavishly illustrated volume, Christiansen explores Mexico s architectural diversity, presenting homes that embody a profound sense of place through exceptional design. From organic dwellings that merge seamlessly with rural landscapes to bold urban structures that challenge conventions of form and space, to sculptural seaside sanctuaries that rise like temples from the sand, each project offers a unique perspective on the country s evolving design language. Profiling both established masters and emerging talents, this book highlights the fearless innovation and artistry that define Mexican architecture today. These visionaries push the boundaries of convention, transforming spaces into works of art that transcend mere functionality. Through their bold experimentation and creative mastery, they shape the future of design while paying homage to Mexico s rich traditions, skilled artisans, and cultural heritage. An essential resource for design aficionados, this book opens the doors to architectural marvels that capture the essence of a vibrant and ever-evolving country an inspiring testament to Mexico s enduring influence on the world of architecture.

Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2014'A virtuoso performance' SUNDAY TIMES'Extraordinary and confounding, mind-spinning and wonderful' INDEPENDENT'A magnificent and moving novel' LOS ANGELES TIMESSeventy-year-old avant-garde composer Peter Els opens the door one evening to find the police on his doorstep. His home microbiology lab - where he is conducting the latest experiment in his lifelong attempt to find musical patterns in surprising places - has aroused the suspicions of Homeland Security.Panicked by the raid, Els turns fugitive, earning him the moniker 'Bioterrorist Bach'. He hatches a daring plan to transform this disastrous collision with the security state into an unforgettable work of art that will reawaken its audience to the sounds all around it.A gripping escape narrative filled with lyrical wonder, Orfeo is both a portrait of a creative, obsessive man, and a reflection on finding melodies in everyday life.

'Penetrating and splendidly written... Dazzling' New York TimesIn Lacewood, Illinois, Laura Bodey, a divorced mother of two and real estate agent, plunges into a new existence when she learns that she has cancer.This same small town is home to Clare & Company, a soap manufacturer begun by three brothers in nineteenth-century Boston. Over the course of more than a century, it transforms into a powerful international corporation.Clare & Company's stunning growth reflects America's kaleidoscopic history, yet for Laura and her family, this wild success has profound and lasting consequences.

Craig Ellwood, the Cary Grant of architecture, was one of the most visible faces of California mid-century modernism. He was known as much for his exquisitely designed, minimalist structures as he was for his exuberant lifestyle. This book celebrates and explores the glamour of Ellwood s work, life, myth, and career. Through photographs, primarily of the iconic houses he designed in Southern California during the 1950s and 60s, we see a life of refined decadence, expressed through gorgeous architecture, fast cars, beautiful women, Hollywood style, palm trees, swimming pools, and minimalist design all in the context of the Southern California postwar building boom. This volume will appeal to design junkies, architecture buffs, students of modernism, and anyone interested in problem-solving and elegant solutions.

The Iconic Interior features over 100 of the most spectacular interiors from around the world, spanning the entire 20th century to the present day. Including spaces created by leading artists and fashion designers, architects, interior and set designers, this essential collection brings together diverse design talents from Piero Fornasetti to Alvar Aalto, Coco Chanel, Marc Newson and Matthew Williamson. The selection spans every style and design movement, from minimalism and Art Nouveau to Gesamtkunstwerk creations that defy definition, offering a rich source of ideas and inspiration for students, designers and homeowners alike.

Celebrates 40 great exemplars of Nordic residential architecture from the past 120 years, exploring both the groundbreaking modernist homes of the 20th century and more contemporary dream residences. The Nordic home has long held a powerful allure for architects, designers and homeowners around the world. The region’s architects and designers, such as Alvar Aalto, Arne Jacobsen and Jørn Utzon, have played a key role in the development of Nordic modernism, with its unique sense of character and warmth. This collection of forty of the area’s most iconic houses ranges widely across diverse landscapes, from remote mountain residences to dramatic waterside homes and urban icons. Unique homes from Iceland and the Faroe Islands sit alongside standout examples from across Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. With specially commissioned photography throughout, this major survey showcases the very best of the region’s innovative architects past and present, sitting within landscapes and locations that are among the most beautiful, and extreme, anywhere on Earth.

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERLONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2024THE POWERFUL NEW NOVEL FROM THE PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING AND BOOKER-SHORTLISTED AUTHOR OF THE OVERSTORY AND BEWILDERMENT‘Powerful, mesmerically beautiful’ MAIL ON SUNDAY‘One long, clever magic trick’ OBSERVER‘Magisterial, moving and thought-provoking … a beautiful love letter to our oceans’ NEW SCIENTISTPlayground follows four lives - a pioneering marine biologist, a free-spirited artist, and two polar opposites whose boyhood bond over a three-thousand-year-old board game sends one into literature and the other onto an AI breakthrough.In the world’s largest ocean, the four are reunited on a history-scarred French Polynesian island chosen as the site for seasteading - sending floating, autonomous cities into the open sea. Standing on the shores of the last wild place yet to be colonised, the residents must first vote to decide if their home will become the launchpad for humanity’s next great adventure.Praise for Richard Powers:'Powers has extraordinary gifts as a writer' GUARDIAN'Impressively precise in its scientific conjectures, Bewilderment is no less rich or wise in its emotionality' OBSERVER'He composes some of the most beautiful sentences I've ever read. I'm in awe of his talent' OPRAH WINFREY'It is impossible to deny the importance of Powers's message' SUNDAY TIMES'Refreshing, original and moving' EVENING STANDARD

Kogda dvadtsatisemiletnij Mark Shljuter popadaet v avtokatastrofu, ego starshaja sestra Karin protiv svoej voli vozvraschaetsja v rodnoj gorod ukhazhivat za bratom. No tot, vyjdja iz komy, schitaet, chto ee zamenil polnostju identichnyj dvojnik, kotoryj, vozmozhno, zhelaet emu zla,- pust on i vygljadit, dejstvuet i govorit kak ego rodnaja sestra. Otchajavshis, Karin obraschaetsja za pomoschju k priznannomu nejrologu, nastojaschej zvezde meditsiny, Dzheraldu Veberu. On priezzhaet, ukhvativshis za vozmozhnost izuchit redkij sluchaj progressirujuschego sindroma Kapgra - nechasto vstrechajuschegosja bredovogo rasstrojstva. No vse okazyvaetsja esche slozhnee, i postojannoe obschenie s bolnym nachinaet okazyvat vlijanie na razum samogo doktora. Mark zhe, vooruzhennyj lish strannoj zapiskoj, ostavlennoj v ego palate neizvestnym, pytaetsja vyjasnit, chto sluchilos v noch avtokatastrofy. Pravda o nej neobratimo izmenit zhizn vsekh troikh.

'Thrilling ... such wonderful storytelling' Observer'Powers' acuity and satire are as sharp as ever' Sunday Times'Smart, tender and wrenchingly anxious about the approaching era ... A bracingly intelligent fable about the choices that face us' Sunday TelegraphWhen Chicagoan Russell Stone begins teaching a Creative Nonfiction class, he meets Thassadit Amzwar, a young Algerian woman with a radiant presence. But he is disturbed by her – how can someone from a country ravaged by conflict be so happy? Puzzling the melancholic Russell, Thassa’s happiness prompts him to research her war-torn country and theories on happiness. His amateur inquiries lead him to college counselor Candace Weld, who also falls under Thassa’s spell. Dubbed ‘Miss Generosity’ by classmates, Thassa’s joy catches the eye of notorious geneticist and advocate for genomic enhancement Thomas Kurton who claims to have found the genotype for happiness. Yet, as media frenzy builds, Thassa’s optimism is tested.Richard Powers’ Generosity explores the implications of a genetic basis for happiness, asking who would control it, and how would it reshape humanity.

'An outstanding novel' Observer'A writer of blistering intellect' Los Angeles Times'Unexpected and richly imaginative' London Review of Books'A first novel of intricate merit ... A rich imagination glitters throughout' Mail on SundayIn the spring of 1914, German photographer August Sander captures a haunting image: three young men on their way to a country dance, themselves unknowingly on the brink of the First World War. This photograph becomes the focal point of Richard Powers’ compelling debut novel.The fate of the three farmers is intertwined with two contemporary stories: a museum-goer becomes obsessed with the photograph, and a young writer in Boston discovers he has a personal connection to it. Seamlessly blended together, these three narratives depict a century scarred by savagery and fired by progress.

'Accomplished ... mature and assured ... A major American novelist' New RepublicEddie Hobson, Sr., father of four, occasional history teacher, quiz master, black humourist, and master invalid, is facing a mysterious ailment. His recurring fainting spells have worsened, and his ingrained aversion to doctors leaves his worried family scrambling to uncover the nature of his sickness. Meanwhile, Eddie secretly works on a project he calls ‘Hobbstown’, a place he believes will not only save him but the world.A dazzling novel of compassion and imagination, Prisoner’s Dilemma explores the profound power of individual experience and the lengths to which one man will go to protect those he loves and his vision for a better world.

A handy resource for all lovers and enthusiasts of house design, featuring over 100 of the world’s most significant residential buildings. The Iconic House features over 100 of the most important and influential houses designed and built since 1900. International in scope and wide-ranging in style, the houses share a remarkable sensitivity to site and context, an appreciation of local materials and building traditions, and a careful understanding of clients’ needs. Each, however, has a unique approach that makes it groundbreaking and radical for its time. Concise, informative texts and fresh, vibrant illustrations, including specially commissioned photographs, floor plans and drawings, offer detailed documentation, while architect biographies, a bibliography, a gazetteer and list of houses by type provide further information. Whether Arts and Crafts or Art Nouveau, Modernist or Minimalist, High-Tech or new vernacular, these unforgettable buildings from around the world will inspire and delight students and professionals, design aficionados and anyone who dreams of building a house of their own.

'If you have children or will have children, if you know children or can remember being a child, dare to read Operation Wandering Soul ... it is bedtime reading for the future' USA TODAY'Powers' prose soars like the most magnificent of choirs' WASHINGTON POST'The most intellectually stimulating novelist at work in the English language today' DAILY TELEGRAPHIn the paediatrics ward of a public hospital, a group of sick children gather, their lives brightened only by the power of imagination. The surrogate parents of this group - Kraft, a tired, overworked surgical resident, and Espera, a dedicated therapist - are charged with prolonging their lives using storytelling and make-believe alone.Using the boundless reach of imagination, Operation Wandering Soul is a novel that celebrates the wonder of childhood. Both social indictment and emotional account of intimate needs, it asks how we might keep alive a little longer the enduring magic of childhood dreams.

'There is no contemporary American writer quite like Richard Powers ... It is rare to find a novel as intellectually and emotionally engaging as this' GUARDIAN'Formidable ... rewarding' SUNDAY TIMES'An astonishing performance' NEW YORK TIMESJonah, Ruth, and Joseph are the children of mixed-race parents who aspire to raise them beyond the constraints of time and identity, immersing them in a world of song. However, they cannot shield them from the realities of the outside world forever.Jonah, a talented young tenor, finds that the opera world remains preoccupied with his race. Ruth, rejecting classical music, disappears instead into a life dedicated to activism and a new relationship. Over the years, Joseph - the middle child, a pianist, and our narrator - struggles not only to stay connected to his siblings but also to carve out a future on his own.A powerful story of a tragedy of race in America, The Time of Our Singing is an enthralling, harrowing novel about the lives of choices of one family at the crossroads of identity.

'A love story of charm and substance, brimming over with ideas, yet anchored in emotional truth' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH'Powers has triumphantly restored ... the philosophical novel' OBSERVER'A heroic tour de force' NEW YORK TIMESIn 1957, brilliant biologist Stuart Ressler sets out to crack the genetic code. Yet his efforts are sidetracked by other, more complex codes - social, moral, musical, and spiritual - as he falls in love with a member of his research team.Years later, another young man and woman investigate a different mystery: why did the promising Ressler suddenly vanish from the world of science?Strand by strand, these two love stories intertwine in a double helix of desire in an enthralling tale about new love and the mysteries of science.

'Part of the joy of reading Powers over the years has been his capacity for revelation' Colson WhiteheadOn the west coast of America, virtual reality researchers race to complete the Cavern, a plain white room that can become a jungle, a painting or a vast Byzantine cathedral. Adie Klarpol, a disillusioned artist, is fascinated by this cutting-edge technology.In a war-torn city on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, an American teacher - Taimur Martin - is held hostage, chained to a radiator in an empty white room.What can possibly join two such remote places? Only the shared imagination, a room that these two people unwittingly build in common...'Spectacular... Riveting' New York Times